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Bid evaluation is the organised process of examining and comparing bids to select the best offer in an effort to acquire goods, works and services necessary to achieve the goals of an organisation.

The best offer recommended as a result of bid evaluation is referred to as the lowest responsive evaluated bid. It may also be called the most economically advantageous tender.

Amendment or withdrawal of bid

Section 45 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA) Act (Chapter 22:23) states that, a bidder may amend or withdraw his or her bid by submitting a notice of amendment or withdrawal to the procuring entity not later than the end of the bidding period. A notice of amendment or withdrawal of a bid shall comply with any directions that may be specified in the invitation to bid, and in the case of a hard-copy bid, shall be submitted in an envelope identifying the invitation to bid and clearly labelled “Amendment of Bid or Proposal” or “Withdrawal of Bid or Proposal”, as the case may be, a bid submitted as an electronic communication, shall comply with such requirements as may be prescribed or as the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe may specify.

Opening and evaluation of bids and award of contract

At the end of the bidding period, or as soon as possible thereafter, a procuring entity shall, at the time and place specified in the bidding documents, open all the bids it has received. The opening of bids shall be conducted in public and the procuring entity shall invite bidders or their representatives to witness the process.

Bid opening requirements

It is critical to note that before a bid is opened, the bidder or his or her representative, if present, shall confirm that the bid is intact and sealed, and no addition, deletion or modification to the exterior or the contents of the sealed bid shall be permitted. Upon the opening of bids, an employee or agent of the procuring entity shall read aloud and record the currency in which the bid is expressed and the form, currency and amount of any bid security that has been given, including the number of copies of the bid that have been submitted, where the bidding documents required more than one copy to be submitted and such other particulars as may be specified in the bidding documents.

The procuring entity’s procurement management unit shall ensure that accurate minutes are kept of the proceedings at an opening of bids, and the minutes shall form part of the procurement record, and be circulated, free of charge, to all bidders that request them. In instances where a bidder omits to submit company registration or incorporation documents, credentials or other historic documents as specified in the provision to section 47 of the PPDPA Act, the procuring entity shall immediately request the bidder, in writing, to submit the missing documents within two days of the request.

Until a preliminary decision on awarding the procurement contract has been notified to the successful bidder, no bidder shall make any unsolicited communication to the procuring entity’s procurement management unit or try in any way to influence the procuring entity’s examination or evaluation of the bids.

Examination of opened bids

Following the opening of bids, the procuring entity shall first determine whether the bidders meet the qualification criteria, if any, contained in the bidding documents and reject those that do not, and then shall examine the bids in order to determine whether the bids are complete and responsive. Provided that bidders shall be deemed to have met the qualification criteria if any default of compliance therewith relates simply to the failure to submit company registration or incorporation documents, credentials or other historic documents that can be readily availed or accessed.

Section 28 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (General) Regulations states that, For the purpose of determining, in terms of section 47 of the PPDPA Act, whether opened bids are complete and responsive, a procuring entity shall reject a bid as non-responsive on the ground of lack of qualification where;

The bidder lacks legal capacity to enter into a contract with the procuring entity; or

Under the law of any country, the bidder is insolvent, bankrupt or being wound up; or

Under the law of any country, the bidder’s business activities have been suspended; or

Legal proceedings have been instituted under the law of any country to sequestrate or wind up the bidder or to place the bidder receivership or to suspend the bidder’s business activities; or

The bidder has failed to comply with any obligation to pay taxes or social security contributions in Zimbabwe; or

The bidder has a conflict of interest in relation to the subject of the procurement; or

The bidder is ineligible under the Act to be awarded a procurement contract.

For the purpose of determining, in terms of section 47 of the Act, whether opened bids are complete and responsive, a procuring entity shall regard a bid as administratively compliant where the bidder has submitted a bid security, where it is required, in the correct form and amount, and the bidder has submitted a bid-securing declaration, where it is required, in the appropriate form, and the bidder has submitted the bid in the appropriate form, and the authorisation and signature of the bid is in accordance with the instructions in the bidding documents, and the period for which the bid is valid is correct.